Local Goa News

Sunday, May 22, 2016

GMC to get new queue system

Bambolim: It's difficult to escape the long queues at outpatient departments (OPD) at the Goa medical college (GMC) and hospital, Bambolim, if one wants to be treated at the tertiary hospital. The existing queue system is hardly effective. To cut down on the chaotic waiting period faced by patients at the congested OPDs, the hospital administration will introduce a new queue system.
Health secretary Sudhir Mahajan said under the new queue system, patients will not require to wait for long hours.
Although a patient is called in according to the number allotted to him at the registration counter, it is a sort of a two-tier registration system. First, a patient has to make his case paper and then rush to a different counter for registration and get a number to see a doctor.
If you have some influence with a GMC official or even have an acquaintance with a ward boy, you can easily jump a queue, and see the doctor earlier. "Many come with such connections, and then the queue goes for a toss," he said.
Many, without such connections, have spent long hours to seek medical help. Seema Gawas, who was accompanying her aged mother to GMC on Thursday, said they had been waiting for over two hours.
Mahajan said attempts are being made to resolve other issues grappling the premier hospital. Security arrangement is being beefed up post a nasty incident at GMC last month.
Now, regular meetings are conducted with security officials, and they have been given fresh instructions about security arrangement. Shortly, CCTV cameras will also be installed.
Almost six lakh patients visit OPDs at GMC annually. It is a huge number and it is not easy when so many people visit, said a GMC official.
Another problematic area is paucity of parking space in the premises. Though, hospital premises have enough parking space, hospital staff has to struggle to find parking space. This happens, because many people, who work either in Margao, Verna or Vasco, park their vehicles in the GMC premises.
The GMC staff vouch that this happens regularly. A staffer said that people take a bus from Bambolim to travel to their workplace. "They come early and park their vehicle and these remain parked till evening, leaving little parking for staff or visitors to the hospital," he said. Plus, some commercial vehicles park in GMC's parking lot and conduct businesses, he added.